Ep. 6 Elevating the Hair Blowout and Art at Virginia Beach's Hi N Dry

Experience the charm of Virginia Beach's unique beauty scene with Val Powell, the visionary behind Hi N Dry, the Oceanfront's one and only blow-dry bar. Join us as Val shares her entrepreneurial journey fueled by a desire to offer a luxury service without the hassle of appointments. Situated at the Oceanfront on 17th Street, Hi N Dry specializes in professional blowouts that last for days, setting itself apart from local salons. Val's passion for creating a welcoming space shines through in her lovely salon, which also doubles as a gallery featuring stunning vintage art pieces by celebrated artists like Renoir, Salvador Dali, and Henry Matisse.

Val's story is one of transformation and family roots, as she explains her shift from stay-at-home mom to business owner, motivated by her family's move to Virginia Beach for a family-friendly atmosphere. She talks about the importance of community and how her salon reflects a personal touch with its flexible hours and talented team. Dive into a conversation filled with inspiration and creativity, as Val discusses not just hair styling but the artistry and warmth that make Hi N Dry a standout destination. Whether you're a local looking for a fresh style or an art enthusiast exploring new avenues, this episode offers a slice of the vibrant life at Virginia Beach.

Hi N Dry
Val Powell
313 17th Street
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
HiNDryVB.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Denise Taylor.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to Good Neighbors Podcast, Virginia
Beach.
I'm Denise Taylor and I'm heretoday with Val Powell of Hi N
Dry at the Oceanfront.
Hi Val, how are you?
I'm so good.
How are you doing?
I'm good.
We're excited to have you Tellus a little bit about your

(00:37):
business.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
It's on 17th Street at the Oceanfront.
Yes, it is the only blow-drybar at the Oceanfront.
It is behind 17th Street SurfShop on Virginia Beach Boulevard
, across the street from the newAtlantic Park.
Perfect, the wave pool and allthe new stuff coming and
happening down there in the VibeDistrict.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
That's amazing.
How long have you been open?

Speaker 3 (01:00):
We're getting close to two years, so still fairly
new and what differentiates youfrom you?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
know other salons in the area that do some services,
because I've been in your salonand it is very different.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Well, we offer something that you can't really
get easily at other salons.
You can't really get easily atother salons.
We kind of offer the icing onthe cake feeling when you go to
a luxury salon and you get yourhair colored and cut and you
spend hours there and you get afinishing perfect blowout.

(01:40):
So what we do is just theblowout, so you can come in and
you get your hair washed andconditioned real well and we've
got different kinds oftreatments and you get a proper
blowout that'll last you days,um, without an appointment,
which is the best part, I think,um a lot of salons, if you want

(02:01):
that type of a service, youhave have to schedule way in
advance.
You might, you know, get theassistant, somebody there that's
just going to blow dry yourhair.
It's not going to be anythingfancy or lasting.
It's not going to be somethingyou really kind of can't do your
own at home.
So what we're doing is a littlemore advanced and I always like

(02:26):
to say proper the differencebetween a blow dry and a blowout
.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
So what are your hours like if people are looking
to get a service?

Speaker 3 (02:36):
We are open at 10 o'clock every day till.
The closing time varies, but weoffer outside of hours, uh
appointments.
So you know, if somebody needsan appointment at seven or eight
in the morning they can.
They can call in advance andget those, but our walk-in hours
are at 10 every day.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Oh, perfect.
How many stylists are in yoursalon right now?

Speaker 3 (03:01):
Um, we have, I think, six or seven.
Um, it depends on what day itis, how busy it is to have the
stylists all in, but, um,everybody's sort of on their own
little flexible schedule.
So, um, it's kind of like nomatter who you see in there,
you're going gonna get the our,our classic proper blowout.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
You don't have to see a specific stylist tell me a
little bit about what broughtyou to Virginia Beach, because I
know your story but I know ourlisteners would want to know.
Tell me what brought you to thearea.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Um, my husband grew up here.
He's a Virginia beach native,um, but we met, uh a long time
ago, almost 15 years ago, um andum, we've been back and forth
here over the years, a bunch.
We have a little daughter andwe came here when we were
pregnant with her because weneeded to be somewhere else, you

(04:05):
know, and raise our daughtersomewhere a little more family
friendly, and so we came toVirginia beach, um, officially
and uh, I was a stay at home momdoing you know, hair still, but
um really wanted to bringsomething that wasn't here.
It was kind of driving me nutsthat there wasn't a blow dry bar

(04:28):
at the ocean front, and so Iwent for it.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
And it's a beautiful space, and you also have some
offerings in terms of clothingantiques.
Yeah, we have Vintage.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
Yes, we have an amazing art collection in there,
um, like vintage fine art.
They say, um, but there's someRenoir and Salvador Dali, uh,
but there's a piece or two inthere from Henry Matisse, um,
and a lot of.
It's just such a specialcollection in there of art and

(05:05):
it's all for sale.
We've got a really coolcollection of vintage for sale
vintage clothing, and what elsewas I about to say?
We had the art and the oh brainfart.
Yeah, we've got a couple.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
It's a very moody, very like space.
So I love it because when yougo in there it's almost like you
can have a cocktail.
It's that type of vibe, likeyou're going to a happy hour.
Tell me about some things thatyou've done with groups of
people for events.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yes, we love to handle groups and parties
because we can get a large group, say, of eight girls or 10 that
need to be ready for an event,a wedding or bridesmaids and a
bride or something.
We can get people in and out inyou know two hours and they get

(06:04):
the whole place to themselvesand they can love that playlist
and have champagne and have agood time while they get ready,
instead of taking hours andhours to get ready with one
stylist on site in some weirdcramped small room with bad
lighting.
Um, so I I like that part aboutour and everybody gets clean,

(06:24):
fresh hair for their eventinstead of, you know, just
whipping together what they canwith this dirty hair you know.
Um so fresh and it's everybody'shappy it comes out looking good
.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
That's awesome, Um, tell me what you love to do
outside of your business.
I know you're really involvedwith your, your daughter and
husband, but what do you guys doas a family?
Um, when you have free time?

Speaker 3 (06:49):
we don't have very much free time, but um and a lot
of time organizing and cleaning.
And since moving here from theWest coast and I'm originally
from the East coast as well, soI'm from Pennsylvania and um, we
just have so much stuff in ourhouse because our parents have
unloaded all of our stuff, so wespend a lot of time organizing

(07:12):
and cleaning and um, but we liketo get out and go, you know, um
do local things at parks andjump parks and really fun things
for the kid and um, yeah, it's,it's good, the weekends are fun
and she's, she's surfing andhaving a good time.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
That's what I was going to ask.
So she's surfing now.
That's great.

Speaker 3 (07:34):
Dad's got her out there teaching her and perfect
better teacher than him.
So it's good, it's good.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
That's great.
Do you guys have a family, afavorite family restaurant that
you would go to if the three ofyou guys could pick something?
What do you think?

Speaker 3 (07:51):
I would say Mexican.
Yeah, we really like Azteca orSide Street down at the ocean
front.
Okay, god, I love Side Street.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
It's really good I haven't been there.
Oh, I'm going to definitelyhave to try that.
Oh, that's awesome.
Is it in the vibe, is it?
What Is it in vibe?
The?
Vibe no, it's down on 11th ohokay, perfect, okay, I
definitely have to check it out.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
Oh, it's so good it's they do it proper yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
Proper, tell me what it was your biggest challenge
thus far starting a smallbusiness, and how did you
overcome that challenge?

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Um, I would say I don't know if I have overcome it
yet, but a challenge would bemarketing and getting the word
out there that I exist becausethere's people that come in
there.
Oh, I lived, you know, a coupleof streets over.
I didn't even know you werehere and so glad I, you know I

(08:55):
came by, or um, so it's just alot of just marketing.
It's a lot Getting the word outthere A lot you know, and I'm
from here, so it's hard for meto really, you know, use
connections and things that alot of other people locally
would be able to have.
Um, you know, and you kind oflose your steam, you know, but

(09:18):
it's, it's just kind of justkeep going, just keep going and
hoping for the best.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
Absolutely.
I think one of the commonthemes that a lot of small
business owners say is that they, they work, they eat, sleep,
their job, yeah, and we feellike everybody knows about it
because we know about it, weknow the ins and outs of it,
we're living it, and then whenwe hear somebody not know what
we do, it's almost like what youdon't know what I do, and so it

(09:48):
is getting the word out thereand having all those connections
and really reminding peopledon't forget about me.
So tell me a little bit aboutthe.
You talked a little bit aboutthe location, but you're smack
dab in the middle of 17th Street, the Vibe District, yes, and

(10:09):
what's your?

Speaker 3 (10:10):
website Hivb.
But so you have to rememberhigh N dry is H I space, n,
space, d, r Y, so it's not highand dry, it kind of comes out as
hindry.
Okay so hindryvb.
com, and we have our bookingsite on there and it's easy to

(10:34):
book online.
Now that's been another trickything is getting all of the
technology side of it allrolling properly.
And yeah, so our website'sgoing and online booking is
there.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
And it's.
It's there For listeners whenyou're thinking of weddings,
homecomings, proms, or just youknow you're going, you have a
date night or you just don'twant to take care of your hair
for an hour.
Yeah, at the oceanfront,walk-ins are welcome.
Yeah, again, it's high and dryon 17th Street in Virginia Beach

(11:16):
on 17th Street in VirginiaBeach.
Thank you so much, val, forbeing with us and being part of
the show, and our communityReally excited to have you down
at the oceanfront.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Thank you so much, denise, thank you so much for
having me, of course.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpvirginiabeachcom.
Go to GNPVirginiaBeach.
com.
That's GNPVirginiaBeach.
com, or call 757-797-8852.